House Speaker Todd Richardson and Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard plan to focus first on economic issues.

Jason Rosenbaum | St. Louis Public Radio | File photos

House Speaker Todd Richardson joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jo Mannies and Jason Rosenbaum for the latest edition of the Politically Speaking podcast.

In his third appearance on the show, Richardson – a Republican from Poplar Bluff – lays out his key objectives for the coming legislative session. For the first time in eight years, the GOP will control the legislative and executive branches of Missouri state government.

Legislators will gather in early January, and Richardson says the early focus will be on how best to re-energize the state’s economy.

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Republican leaders plan to take early action on “right to work," which would curb union rights in the workplace, and also will revisit “paycheck protection," which would impose restrictions or outlaw payroll deduction of dues for public employees.

Also on the docket: A look at the state’s prevailing wage law, which critics contend mandates unrealistically high wages for workers on public projects, and “tort reform,’’ which would place limits or caps on damages awarded in lawsuits.

Richardson also wants state government to expand benefits for paid parental leave and to look at ways to improve workforce development, such as job training.

Among the speaker’s other observations during the podcast:

He expects the General Assembly to look at ways to improve education in the state, including the expansion of charter schools;

He will call for more action on ethics and will seek legislation to bar all lobbyists’ gifts;

He expects legislators will get involved in crafting health-insurance alternatives for the hundreds of thousands of Missourians who may lose coverage if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare;

He’s unsure of the impact of the new campaign-donation restrictions that just went into effect earlier this month.

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On the Thursday after his resounding victory in the Missouri governor’s race, Eric Greitens spent the morning at the Missouri Capitol meeting with Gov. Jay Nixon and huddling up with the Senate Republican supermajority. Greitens ended up shaking lots of hands of fellow Republicans who could help make his campaign agenda into the laws of the land.

When he stepped into the Capitol hallways, Greitens could hardly contain his enthusiasm about the months ahead.

Missouri will become a right-to-work state. The chief question is how soon the General Assembly will put a version of the anti-union measure on the desk of soon-to-be Gov. Eric Greitens.

The other unknown is what particular form of “right to work’’ Missouri’s new law will take.

Under "right to work," unions and employers cannot require all workers in a bargaining unit to pay dues or fees. Although some versions of right to work say a worker cannot be required to join a union, federal law has barred such a requirement for a long time.